Opening ATM account for non-resident

[Sergei]

Hello all!

A lot of my friends with same tourist status have ATM accounts in different PH Banks. 4 example, LandBank, BDO, PNB, BPI, ChinaBank.

I live in Philippines since November 2016. All last month i trying to open account, and all banks say only one - NO TOURISTS, YOU NEED PERMANENT RESIDENT.

I'm read requirements on all banks websites, and every bank (exclude BDO) let foreigners open accounts with 1-2 documents.

I have ACR-ID, Passport (Russian), Bank statement from previous bank in my country, Lease contract on 1 year, Police and immigration clearance, give all this documents for bank managers and nothing at all.

Maybe somebody know, which bank may open account for me? Or what i doing wrong?

P.S. i visited: BDO, BPI, PSB, PNB, LandBank, ChinaBank. 

Thank you for help!

[i am bob]

I don't bother with the banks here.  My money (pension, other income) is deposited into my bank in Canada and I transfer in what I need for the month.  If I need more?  Transfer it in...  Hehe!  I use WorldRemit and do the "cash pickup" option...  So many different places my cash can be sent to that I'm rarely not within walking distance...  And a couple of the places have locations open 24 hours so if I'm in a bind?  No problem!  The most I've ever had to wait for cash to be available (from logging on WR to send to having cash in hand) is 3 hours once...  And only because the system where I was getting my money was down.  After seeing how long it takes if transferring between banks?  A friend who is also Canadian has his pension direct deposit electronically by the Canadian Government - and still has to wait 30 days for the Filipino bank to release it...  I'll keep doing things the way I have...  

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Sergei said:

Maybe somebody know, which bank may open account for me? Or what i doing wrong?

I have found that each individual bank manager has the power to open an account for a tourist on an ACR card so you need to find a bank where you can see the manager.  Preferably a bank where you have a friend who is a good customer and then mention his name to the manager.  Then ask the question of how you open an account and mention a large sum of money you wish to deposit. You will get an account.

[Nephi]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I have found that each individual bank manager has the power to open an account for a tourist on an ACR card so you need to find a bank where you can see the manager.  Preferably a bank where you have a friend who is a good customer and then mention his name to the manager.  Then ask the question of how you open an account and mention a large sum of money you wish to deposit. You will get an account.

I agree here. It is important to always deal directly with a bank manager. Your ACR card and passport is all that is needed to open an account. Sometimes there can be a verbal language barrier and a bank employee can simply deny your request rather than deal with the language difference.

That said, I would try using MetroBank. We shopped around years ago and found them to be the best of the bunch. We use MetroBank exclusively and have had no problems even when we opened our account. Check here for MetroBank Locations to locate the ones closest to you and pay them a visit.

Best OF Luck

Nephi

[Snowy79]

I opened an account with the HSBC after being in country for just over one week. All they wanted was an address and I gave them the one I had in Scotland plus a copy of my passport. There's a minimum of 100,000 php to be kept in the account at all times. They even give an ATM card which has no fees attached for withdrawals.

[Sergei]

19 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I have found that each individual bank manager has the power to open an account for a tourist on an ACR card so you need to find a bank where you can see the manager.  Preferably a bank where you have a friend who is a good customer and then mention his name to the manager.  Then ask the question of how you open an account and mention a large sum of money you wish to deposit. You will get an account.

Oooo, my friend, now i will say for you very funny story, but absolutely not funny for my friends.

My friends too foreigners, live in Philippines many years, and very good clients in LandBank. 

They say me - let's go, Sergei, we know very good manager in this bank, he will open account 4 you without problems.

We visited this manager in office, and i ask for account. Manager say, what i need only "permanent resident" status. I opened requirements page on landbank website, where says, what account for foreigners available and opening with 2 documents, and show this page for manager. Manager invite head office manager, and she say only one - "this is bank policy, no tourist, only residents". 

This time my friends tried to transfer money for they account.

Ok, then i ask they - guys, how it real? My friends in same tourist status have account, but i don't have permit to open?

Manager ask my friend's documents, saw TOURIST on ACR and say…. ooo, sorry po, you don't have permit to transfer money, because you not resident. You need change status and try again. My friends say - how so? We a yours clients!!! But nothing more, only "need change status". - "Ok, when, how we open account?" - "it's our error, we very sorry"

I write email in head office, and after 1 month i don't have answer. Now my friends don't know what to do.

… i don't know who is fool in this situation, but i think it's not normal...

One good man say about Philippines peoples very right phrase - "it's not difficult, but complicated".

 

[Sergei]

21 hours ago, i am bob said:

I don't bother with the banks here.  My money (pension, other income) is deposited into my bank in Canada and I transfer in what I need for the month.  If I need more?  Transfer it in...  Hehe!  I use WorldRemit and do the "cash pickup" option...  So many different places my cash can be sent to that I'm rarely not within walking distance...  And a couple of the places have locations open 24 hours so if I'm in a bind?  No problem!  The most I've ever had to wait for cash to be available (from logging on WR to send to having cash in hand) is 3 hours once...  And only because the system where I was getting my money was down.  After seeing how long it takes if transferring between banks?  A friend who is also Canadian has his pension direct deposit electronically by the Canadian Government - and still has to wait 30 days for the Filipino bank to release it...  I'll keep doing things the way I have...  

Sorry, friend, but i don't need to transfer money on domestic account. And it is not problem for me. I have a money here, and i need domestic Visa/Mastercard for add in PayPal account and for online payment. 

[bigpearl]

1 hour ago, Sergei said:

Sorry, friend, but i don't need to transfer money on domestic account. And it is not problem for me. I have a money here, and i need domestic Visa/Mastercard for add in PayPal account and for online payment. 

Not good news Sergei, I too had trouble opening an account with BDO, the 4th attempt, all different locations was successful but only because we asked to speak with the manageress, My partner is Filipino and attended the banks with me every time. I took ACR1, passport, 12 month lease for condo, power bill, water bill and explained that I needed account to run my finances in PH, the manageress finally agreed to open 2 accounts with debit cards on the proviso that I did not deposit more than $ 9,999.00 in any one transaction, this took half an hour of discussions before she agreed, like negotiating a contract, I am sure if I didn't have my partner there the answer would have been no. 

That was 4 years ago and we were finally successful with only a tourist visa and docs, things may have changed, sounds like they have. Good luck with your endeavours, hope it works out.

Cheers, Steve.

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, Sergei said:

Manager ask my friend's documents, saw TOURIST on ACR and say…. ooo, sorry po, you don't have permit to transfer money, because you not resident.

Yes, each manager 'has the power' to do it but not all will do it.  Sounds like your friend's bank manager either changed or at least changed her mind between opening account for your friends and not opening for you.

One additional bit of info.  In a couple of accounts I have had (I have had 5 different accounts that I remember as a tourist in various parts of Philippines over 10 years), anyway in a couple of those accounts the manager said I can only deposit via transfer from overseas funds and cannot make direct deposits from local sources.  But in each case they eased up once the manager got to know me and I deposited some local checks and linked to my Paypal.  Its ALL about picking the right bank and the right manager.  (The 5 banks I mentioned having accounts in are RCBC Savings Bank, Metrobank, Maybank, Security Bank, and PSBank) so obviously it can be done but I admit the last time I opened a new account was 2 years ago so it may have changed.

[AlwaysRt]

Please NEVER EVER use the 'but my friend' or 'this other foreigner' has/was allowed/can.... It does not work as a reason to allow you to do something and often screws the friend/foreigner over by having whatever it is taken away from them. Don't throw others under the bus just because you are having a hard time getting the same deal.